Andy Burnham wants free social care for everyone in England and will take his plans to the electorate at the next general election.
The prime minister told the BBC it would be a system where “all contribute, all are covered”. He did not rule out the possibility of tax rises, conceding it may be “difficult or unpopular” for some.
Burnham said he intends to give out his “vision” on Tuesday and Whitehall troubleshooter Baroness Casey, who is undertaking a review, will advise on the “best way of doing it”.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp claimed the PM was claiming Labour wanted “more tax rises” to pay for the reforms, and the Conservatives wouldn’t back this.
Reforming social care has been one of Burnham’s major themes and he has spoken about the experience of his father Roy, who had Alzheimer’s and died earlier this month.
He has been clear on his goal to make improvements to the system, but has yet to explain how any changes will be supported.
Adult Social Care in England
Adult social care is state provided support to help people live more independently, including help at home.
Unlike the NHS, social care is not free at the point of use. If you have savings of above £23,250, your council won’t help you with care costs in England and Northern Ireland.
In Wales and Scotland the regulations for eligibility are different.
NHS-Style Social Care System
Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, the prime minister said: “I am talking about a system that works on NHS principles because that is the only way you can make it function.Elsewhere in the UK, personal care is free. “I don’t think it’s right that people in England don’t get the same and it’s not something we’re going to rush.”
In Scotland, personal care is available for any adult identified as needing help with activities like eating and bathing.
The adjustments would have to be “done carefully, without putting extra strain on the public purse, Burnham said.
But he added nothing is off the table at this point in time in terms of how plans would be funded.
“It is not that high,” he said when told it has been projected that a system for everyone in England that is free at the point of use might cost taxpayers £18bn a year.
People were already paying a “huge cost” already, he added, and social care in England was “as unfair as American healthcare, where the most vulnerable in society can lose everything, they can be wiped out”.
Burnham also said there is a cost to the NHS because of the “huge number” of people in hospitals throughout England who cannot be discharged home “because the social care isn’t there”.
Funding and Universal Social Care
When asked if everyone will have to contribute to his proposed system, Burnham said: “It will be a system of that kind – so everyone contributes, everyone is covered but not precisely necessarily in the same way that we currently pay for the NHS.
Details developed by Baroness Casey will be subject to cross-party talks to try to “build consensus”, he said.
Baroness Casey was due to deliver her review of social care in 2028 but former PM Sir Keir Starmer persuaded her to rush it forward to next summer.
Burnham on the timeline: “I’m going to say that we stick to the manifesto because I have to preserve people’s trust. There are commitments in the platform that I think it would be challenging to accomplish in this Parliament.
The Labour manifesto in 2024 includes strong assurances on tax including not to increase national insurance, income tax or VAT.
“I don’t see how you can reform this system without consensus,” Burnham said. I will come up with a very clear strategy and I will submit that plan to the public in a general election and that will be where the plan is tested and people will then be able to decide.
Political Debate Over Social Care Reform
Tax increases would be a “red line” for the Conservatives and they would “not under any circumstances” endorse more, Philp said.
He stated the UK is “already taxed too highly” and told the BBC: “If we need more money – for example for social care or indeed for defence we would find that money through savings elsewhere particularly in the welfare budget.
Labour MP Darren Jones, who is a cabinet minister for Sir Keir, said Burnham was being “very bold and brave” on social care.
He said: “Politics is about priorities and these things do cost money and so we will need to see the depth of that approach.
It was “an option that the government should consider alongside others” to pay for reforms to social care, he told Laura Kuenssberg the pensions triple lock may be scrapped.
The triple lock pension policy means that the state pension will rise in line with average salary growth, inflation or 2.5% – whichever is the highest.
Sir Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat leader, said Burnham can prove himself to be “serious about fixing care” by getting on with the cross-party negotiations that started in July.
“This can’t just be a series of No 10 headlines with no real action,” he continued.
Reform UK’s economic spokesman Robert Jenrick said: “Andy Burnham will not rule out his universal death tax.“Too weak to cut the benefits bill, so he’s coming after your home instead.”
History of Social Care Reform
Burnham blasted earlier generations of politicians for the “cowardice” of not reforming social care, but his campaign for change is not without peril.
As health secretary in Gordon Brown’s Labour government, he once devised a plan for a national care service.
It was considered that this would be paid for through a forced payment, possibly from people’s estates after they had died.
Labour’s opponents called the plan a “death tax” and the measures went nowhere when the party lost the 2010 general election.
In the 2017 general election, then-Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May was accused of introducing a “dementia tax” by proposing that those who receive care at home should pay the full cost if they have wealth of £100,000 or more.